The Safety Net - Losing my way

Monday March 14, 2016

Dear Nettie at The Safety Net,

I set my business up about a year ago and RIFT Accounting were really helpful with the daunting prospect of writing a business plan. However I’ve found recently that I’m not referring back to the plan very much and feel like I’m starting to lose my way – I appreciate it’s not an excuse to say I’m too busy, but have you got any suggestions that may help me?

Thanks for contacting us, and I’m pleased you have come back to us now it’s time to review the plan.

In all honesty, very few businesses stick rigidly to the business plan, even those with the best of intentions to do so like yourself. It’s really important to adapt and change as you go, that’s how businesses grow.

I always suggest that a business plan should really be a ‘working document’ and used as a guide to your goals, but it is a good thing to adjust as you go, as long as you don’t go off at a tangent. If you need to go off at a tangent, that either means the original plan needs changing more than you initially thought – or is there another business idea lurking!

Sometimes the best reason to change direction is when you start to see a need for something through feedback and conversations with clients and you realise that by maybe adding another product or service, you will be able to sell more to your existing client base, which is always a great way to grow.

One thing to bear in mind is to ensure you keep everything up-to-date. For example, your marketing plan should be linked to your business plan, so if you have changed your business plan, then you may need to adjust your marketing plan accordingly.

It is brilliant to hear that you are busy, but I am concerned that you say you are starting to lose your way – if you would like to have a chat or use your next quarterly review to discuss this further, you can of course, or if it’s easier, send the amended business plan across and we will be happy to have a look.

The main thing to remember is that it is important to have a plan, even if you only stick to 50% of it, ½ a plan is certainly better than no plan!

Look forward to talking to you again soon and reading the revised plan - Nettie